MANKATO — Even as two more rounds of rainfall poured more misery on a region already full to the brim, south-central Minnesotans were working Saturday to hold back the rising water in places like Waterville and clean up the soggy mess everywhere else.
“VOLUNTEERS NEEDED URGENTLY,” the Le Sueur County Emergency Services Department declared in a Facebook post following a mid-afternoon thunderstorm in Waterville. “Due to the rain stopping we are starting back up with bagging efforts. Volunteers needed now.”
Lakeside homes in the resort town of 1,753 were under immediate threat as waters in Lake Tetonka, Lake Sakatah and associated creeks swelled from the eight-day rainy spell that is only the latest chapter in one of the wettest springs on record.
As the sandbagging battle continued across the town, at least one resident announced her surrender.
“We evacuated today,” Kelly Blatz wrote on the Waterville Chamber of Commerce Facebook page. “I am so thankful for the 700+ sandbags we used to try to save our property, but mother nature was too much.”
In Mankato, which was overwhelmed by flash-flooding Friday morning and afternoon, rains returned before midnight, continued through the overnight hours and concluded with a torrential finale just before 2 p.m. — briefly bringing a return to standing water on some streets. Mostly, though, Saturday was recovery time.
“Not too much change from yesterday,” Mankato City Manager Susan Arntz reported at about 3 p.m. “Things have settled quite a bit. We only had three calls to the Emergency Operations Center overnight, so relatively quiet, even though it was raining and blowing again.”
Relatively quiet was a relative concept in houses across Mankato as fans blew, wet-vacs whined, dehumidifiers hummed, sump pumps chugged and homeowners commiserated.
Dan Robbins and Jeremy Burger compared notes after running into each other at Mankato’s drop-off site for sopping carpet, soaked furniture and other soggy basement debris. Robbins was getting rid of furniture and other items that had been stored on the floor of his basement. Burger was tossing wet toys, stuffed animals, furniture and rugs.
Burger’s home is on the hilltop, near Division Street. Robbins’ is in west Mankato in the valley. But the experience is the same in basements in every part of the city — an identical combination of wet and noisy.
“We’ve got water that looks like a creek running to the drain,” Robbins said.
“Probably an inch or so throughout the whole basement,” Burger said of his home.
The water was similarly prevalent in Robbins’ basement despite the best efforts of his double-sump-pump set-up.
“Two sump pumps — there might be 20 seconds between ‘on’ and ‘off,’” he said.
In Burger’s basement, it’s a symphony of sound produced by three fans, several borrowed dehumidifiers and a couple of wet-vacs.
“The trick is to know where everything is so you don’t blow fuses,” he said.
Both were pleased to get through the heavy rains of Saturday, June 15, without any trouble. But those storms, on top of the very wet spring, left soils saturated and unable to absorb the repeated downpours that arrived late Thursday and Friday.
“It’s everywhere,” Robbins said of the flooding.
Neither of the men, who know each other from coaching wrestling in Mankato, was complaining. They’d been through it during similar periods of torrential rains a decade ago and near the turn of the century.
It’s tougher on the first-timers, something Burger knows first-hand as the father of a 8-year-old devastated to see water pouring into her home.
“She was crying and worried about everything,” he said.
But his kids, including a pair of teenaged sons, pitched in to save what could be saved and haul away the rest.
Similar examples weren’t hard to find. The acts of kindness and camaraderie might not have been as common as the raindrops in recent days, but people were striving to make a contest of it.
In Le Sueur County, a neighboring community — via its municipal liquor store — was promising some sustenance on Saturday for hard-working volunteers and other exhausted Waterville residents.
“We will be dropping off sandwiches or hotdogs in a roaster for a 100 people tomorrow morning from the Le Center Muni,” Becky Vikla announced on the Waterville Chamber of Commerce Facebook page just before midnight Friday night.
By lunchtime, the county’s Emergency Management Department appeared to be dealing with a loaves and fishes situation.
“We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support and generosity from all who have donated,” the department posted at about noon Saturday. “Thanks to your food donations, we have met our needs and are no longer in need of additional food supplies. … Your kindness and quick response have been essential in helping Waterville through this challenging time.”
Asked by a commenter what he could do in lieu of a food donation, the man was directed to the sandbagging operation, which was expected to continue through Sunday and into Monday.
Earlier, a man was trying to figure out how to pitch in despite caring for kids who didn’t meet the age-threshold of 15 years or older to be on the sandbag line.
“I have my young kids so we can’t fill bags,” the man wrote. “I have an open truck bed to haul them though. Where can we go?”
And even Kathy Blatz, the woman who had lost the attempt to save her property from the rising water, had moved on to thinking of her neighbors.
“I am praying for the town and that we can get FEMA and other money to fix this in the future,” Blatz wrote on the Chamber website. “We are displaced, but if anyone needs anything, we will give anything we can.”
Roads Closed
High water continued to keep several roads and other public facilities closed.
In Mankato, as of Saturday afternoon, Warren Street was closed between Riverfront Drive and South Front Street. Basset Drive was closed near Fair Street. So was the lower dog park at the Kiwanis Recreation Area.
Land of Memories Park was entirely closed, and the park’s campground is going to remain off-limits for some time. Campsite reservations and other events at the park have been cancelled through July 7.
Flooding was also causing problems for numerous state highways on Saturday.
Highway 93 between Highway 169 and Le Sueur, which shut down at 10:30 a.m., was one of the most recent to close.
The northbound lanes of Highway 169 north of St. Peter were to be closed, too, with two-way, head-to-head traffic and reduced speed limits in the southbound lanes for approximately two miles, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The action reflects the strategy implemented when MnDOT reconstructed Highway 169, raising the southbound lanes to handle both northbound and southbound traffic on Highway 169 and adding crossovers to handle the emergency traffic switches.
Other closed routes requiring detours included Highway 14 near Janesville (traffic is being detoured through Janesville); Highway 30 east of Mapleton; the Highway 99 Minnesota River bridge at St. Peter; and Highway 19 east of Henderson.
Several other highways that were closed reopened when waters receded, but others are being monitored closely by MnDOT and may need to be added to the list of closures. Travelers are advised to check 511mn.org for the latest conditions.
Mankato updates
In Mankato, there were still no reports of injuries or homes that needed to be evacuated because of the flooding, although minor landslides occurred Friday in ravines at four locations, including Highland Park.
Residents are encouraged to continue to report flooded basements to the city, which is compiling damage assessments related to the flooding.
“Residents should continue to contact the Emergency Operations Center at 507-387-8788 until Monday at 8 a.m. to report a flooded basement, sanitary sewer backup or to report a tree down in the roadway or on public property,” city officials announced Saturday afternoon.
The drop-off site for flood-damaged materials, located at 155 Sakatah Drive, will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and from noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday of this week. Mankato residents can dispose of personal goods and demolition debris removed by the homeowner.
Electronics will not be accepted and should be taken to GreenTech Recycling, 205 West Spring St., Mankato. Household hazardous waste should be taken to the Blue Earth County Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 651 Summit Ave, Mankato.
The drop-off site is being monitored by Department of Public Safety staff, and people should be prepared to offer proof that they are a Mankato resident.
Rainfall amounts
Rainfall data from amateur weather stations from Friday through 7 a.m. Saturday included 8.1 inches in two locations just south of Mankato and others that were at or near 7 inches. Those didn’t include the Saturday afternoon thunderstorm, which dropped 0.65 inches at the Mankato airport. So it’s possible some totals will approach 9 inches when the final numbers are tabulated.
Ernest Lillo of Eagle Lake told The Free Press that his gauge showed 12 inches over the two days.
Two-day totals by other amateur weather observers, not including rains after 7 a.m. Saturday, were 6.78 inches near St. James, 6.73 near Eagle Lake, 6.45 inches northeast of Janesville, 5.8 inches in Waterville, 5.71 just east of North Mankato and 5.6 inches and 5.59 west of Good Thunder.
The National Weather Service — which extended its flood warning for Watonwan, Blue Earth, Le Sueur and Waseca counties to 7 a.m. Sunday — is predicting sunshine and no rain through Monday afternoon. There’s a 50% chance of rain in the Mankato forecast for Monday night, but the amount should be a tenth of an inch or less other than isolated higher amounts in thunderstorms.
Following a couple of dry days, thunderstorms are looking likely Thursday and Friday, according to Saturday afternoon’s forecast discussion by the NWS office in Chanhassen.
“Given the recent wet pattern, this system will support both potential severe weather and excessive rainfall,” according to the summary.